In an unprecedented move, the 16 universities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia have joined forces to form the Humboldtn initiative in 2021 in order to actively promote the topic of sustainability at universities. As a multiplier and intermediary, Humboldtn will coordinate joint research interests so that expertise and competencies in both basic research and implementation-oriented and application-oriented sustainability research are pooled. Another central task is to sensitise young researchers to aspects of sustainability research. The Wuppertal Institute and the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste of North Rhine-Westphalia cooperate with this initiative.
The Wuppertal Institute will contribute its expertise in transformation research and is responsible for managing and steering the Humboldtn project.